Bob watched on carefully, from his position he was the most exposed, but it gave him a great vantage point to not only view most of the Spains Hall Estate ahead of him, but glancing to his right he was able to keep watch over Archie, Lara and Wren. They were rotating who was taking watch between them, trying their best to not let the boredom soak in and make them complacent.
Lara had been exceptionally apprehensive coming back here after her brief tangle with death. Bob mused to himself about Vasquez. A cold blooded killer with no remorse in his eyes was how Lara had described him. Reading between the lines though, Bob appreciated that Vasquez clearly had morals. He had let Lara live and freed those captured by the gangsters he had associated himself with. Perhaps a brief change of heart, Bob thought.
The morning light was interrupted by dismal grey clouds that threatened rain, light smatterings occasionally breaking their barriers and falling sporadically on the group.
As the hours ticked by, restlessness had kicked in for the trio. Bob was completely un-phased and alert. Decades in the field had prepared him well. He continued to pan the area slowly, eye glued to his scope and rifle moving smoothly on its swivel. Deep, slow and purposeful breaths kept him in tune with his body. An almost cathartic experience.
“There we go…” Bob muttered to himself. A light pink curtain that was half pulled across a small window on the upper floor of the main residence was gently swaying. The windows were shut and it was more pulled across than it had been earlier. He let the others know that movement detected so at least someone or some… thing was definitely residing at the halls.
Bob had been hoping for a none event. A hope to find the place abandoned that would let him get on with creating a small community garden, walled and protected. However, now the stakes were raised his arms bristled in excitement. He didn’t want to admit it, but being back ‘in the field’ was giving him a new lease of life.
The announcement via radio call to Archie, Lara and Wren had re sparked their concentration. They were now silent, still and focussed.
After another hour, they all heard a door slam shut. Somebody had left the premises and started one of the four cars on the driveway. They left in no rush and the angle of the exit and entry into the car was not visible to Lara who was on watch with the binoculars from their position.
“Man. Heavily tattooed. Golden brown skin. White vest. Open purple shirt. Bald. Cobweb tattoo on back of neck, crawling up towards the back of his head. Over” Bob had radioed back to Archie, who had checked in to see if Bob could see anything.
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“That was him.” gasped Lara
Fifteen more minutes of waiting to see if any more movement was detected or any other residents were looking to follow suit in other vehicles, but nothing.
The rustling of grass nearby caught Lara’s attention, she turned to see the giant Bob snaking his way through the long grass, moving toward their position.
As he reached the group, he sounded out “I think we go in there and take a look around”.
“That’s off script” Lara said sharply
With kind eyes, he looked to her. “I know. But this is the right move. The most dangerous component is gone. We need to check if there are others in side. If they are safe, or even if they are dangerous. They’re on our doorstep. We need to know what we are dealing with.”
“But what if something goes wrong” Wren replied in earnest, eyes wide with fear. This wasn’t a dummy run, a local food drop off, scouting for supplies. This was potentially going to lead to a real, direct confrontation. Not something any of them, with the exception of Bob were particularly used to.
“Right. This is nerve-wracking. I get it. All we are going to do, is move closer. Listen and learn. As we get closer, we might decide it’s best to move in, we might decide it's best to retreat… but we won’t know, until we know” declared Bob.
He chipped in at the end “Agreed?” Looking to the three of them.
In unison and with heavy hearts, all three replied “agreed”, each elongating the word, yearning for their warm, cosy bunker.
Bob packed away his rifle and scope, neatly placing it into his bag. He removed a handgun and placed it between his belt and lower back. Loudly, he zipped the bag shut and buried it under some loose leaves within the bush that was protecting them from any prying eyes.
“You’re not going to like this… Archie”
“Oh my god. What won’t I like” He sounded off
“Well… if we do go in… if there’s any danger… it’s just… well you should be the one to move in first. I’ll be right there behind you” Bob said, no jokes to be found in his voice now. He was deadly serious.
“My ability…” Archie pondered out loud
“That’s the ticket. All ability descriptions have turned out to be true so far, and as reported from around the world in the intelligence reports Maureen has been receiving. That means, you have a yourself a second life - how did you describe it again?”
Archie closed his eyes and felt the words engraved in his soul. He read out:
“**Ability 2: **Survivor. All damage from a fatal hit is negated. No stamina impact, cooldown: 365 days.”
“That’s it. Until that is cooling down Archie, you need to be brave. You need to move first. Either that, or Lara with the shield out. I’m only talking about situations where you KNOW there is danger on the other side of a door, around the corner, or imminently upon you”
“Ok” choked Archie. He wasn’t used to playing a lead role in anything, this felt uncomfortable, scary and he wasn’t sure he even believed this ability was real.
“Then it’s decided. We will move along the tree line to the back edge of the second residence. From there we will largely be in cover and be able to move closer to the walls of the property. We will stop, listen and learn. The objective is to hopefully enter the residence and do a full sweep, room to room. Just like we practiced at our place.”
Bobs orders were clear. It was time to move.